


Things in Common

by chrysissoft



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Angst, Avengers Tower AU, Bonding, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Pre-Slash
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-20
Updated: 2019-05-25
Packaged: 2020-03-08 15:12:54
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,566
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18897190
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chrysissoft/pseuds/chrysissoft
Summary: Started this with a simple idea in mind, now I'm hooked. I'll be keeping this going for as long as people (including myself) are interested.





	1. Coffee.

**Author's Note:**

> Started this with a simple idea in mind, now I'm hooked. I'll be keeping this going for as long as people (including myself) are interested.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's a stormy day, Sam is stuck in the Avengers Tower, and the only other person around decides to get acquainted.

It was a miserably stormy day and Sam Wilson wasn’t having it. He had been at the tower on business terms, but the inclement weather had other plans for the rest of his day. Rather than catching a cab back to his apartment - which in this weather was bound to take 3 times as long - he was invited by Tony to stay until the sky cleared up. Seeing as he was unsure at best about when that meant he’d be leaving, he sauntered to the kitchen.

Sam approached the doorway to the nearly empty room, not paying much mind to the silhouette standing by the glass-paned wall. It was mid afternoon, but the dark clouds looming overhead could’ve made most assume it was the middle of the night, save for the intermittent flashes of lighting. Thunder clapped in the distance as Sam walked up to the counter, huffing out a small, relieved sigh when he spotted the coffee maker; still hot and mostly full. He hadn’t spent quite as much time in the tower as the other Avengers. Fumbling about, he opened and closed numerous cabinets in search of a mug before a voice spoke up.

“Top cabinet, closest to the fridge.”

Sam’s head turned to find the source of the voice, eyes settling on the silhouette by the window from before. Now turned to face him, the figure outlined in the dim light was Rhodey.

“Oh, cool.”

“And you’re welcome.”

Sam furrowed his brow at the almost snarky tone, but replied in earnest.

“For?”

“Well, seeing as you haven’t opened the fridge but went looking for a cup, I’d guess the smell of coffee brought you in here.” Rhodey flashed a small grin, already holding a steaming mug of, presumably, coffee. “I usually have a pot on when I’m here. Can’t live without it and most of the team seems to appreciate it.”

“In that case, yes. Thank you.”  Sam was only moderately acquainted with the War Machine, and even less so with the man standing outside of the metal suit. “So you just been watching me from over there or what?”

Rhodey chuckled, “Y’know, it’s not hard to tell when someone isn’t used to this place.”

“Wow, that obvious?” Sam smirked and returned to putting together his drink before taking a seat at the spacious, albeit messy, dining table.

“It’s not often that someone gets to be friends with a billionaire, let alone watch other people experience being in said billionaire’s oversized playhouse for the first time.” In that sense, Rhodey regarded himself as quite lucky. At this point it was easy for him to recognize the ever so slightly agape mouths and look of awe as new eyes darted about the many fixtures of the tower. Feeling a touch out of place just staring out the window, he walked over to take the adjacent seat at the table.

“Can you blame me though? I was an upstate New York boy before I moved to Brooklyn. My family didn’t exactly have the most luxurious place around, but we made due.”

“Well how’d you end up -” Rhodey gestured widely at their surroundings, “y’know, in all of this mess?” He was just as curious to find out more about the man behind Falcon, prodding a bit deeper to hopefully coax an answer from the man without overstepping any boundaries.

“Ah, well... I joined the force.”

“Branch?”

“Air force.”

“Huh, one of my own, then.” Rhodey smiled, placing a hand on Sam’s shoulder for a brief moment.

“Yes sir, Colonel.” Sam spoke with respect, as Rhodey’s military rank was one of the few things he knew about the guy.

“Just Rhodey is fine.”

“Well, Rhodey...” Sam paused a moment before continuing, “I lost someone close to me. Most of us do. Came off of active duty, but I tried to keep myself busy. That’s when I met mister Captain America.”

“The face of patriotism himself.” Rhodey and Sam both laughed, and any tension that had been in the air dissipated.

“Yeah... it was pretty surreal actually. I found out firsthand just how obnoxious a man with a million dollar smile could be.”

“Tell me about it.”

The two went on for what seemed like hours, tossing stories back and forth about Steve and Tony. Two air force vets who were best friends with two of the most well known Avengers, respectively. The conversation found them at the bottom of their mugs after some time.

“You should come here more often,” Rhodey mused. “You’re good company.”

“Funny you should say that, because you’re not half bad yourself.” Despite his sarcasm and banter, Sam was almost beaming at this point.

“Here,” Rhodey shuffled about the mess on the table, fishing up a scrap of paper and a pen. He quickly scribbled down some digits before handing it to Sam. “Give me a call if you ever wanna come over again. I’m usually here, and if I’m not it doesn’t take long to get here. Coffee only takes a few minutes to get brewing.”

“If I didn’t know better, I’d guess you were asking me out on a date.”

“Only if you want me to,” Rhodey paused. “Do you want me to? Are you even... y’know?”

Sam let out a small sigh. It wasn’t a question he was asked very often. “Riley.”

“Riley?”

“He’s who I lost. So to answer your question... yes. I am bisexual, if that’s what you mean.”

“It is.”

The two fell into a solemn quiet for a minute or so before Sam spoke up again. “Sorry, didn’t mean to make it as dreary in here as it is outside.” Rhodey looked as though he was ready to interject, but Sam continued to add to his statement. “You’re just a good listener is all. Haven’t been able to have a conversation like this with someone in a while.”

“Well, I know how to make more than just coffee. How about dinner next time? I’ll cook, and you can talk about whatever you feel like. If that’s okay with you.”

Sam smiled, “That... actually sounds really nice.”

“I think you spoke a bit soon,” Rhodey said, looking back to the window he’d been standing at. “About the dreariness outside.”

The rain had stopped and the clouds had begun to clear, letting the sunset peak through just enough to bathe the tower in a golden glow. The two shared a look, and Rhodey reached out to take Sam’s hand. He led the other over to the glass wall where they looked out over the city skyline.

“Shit,” Sam huffed. “I should be getting home, I’ve already been here a lot longer than I was intending.”

Rhodey glanced over, fighting off nerves he didn’t think he had anymore. “How does Saturday sound? 8 o’clock?”

“Oh, right.” Sam found his heart in his throat, a feeling he hadn’t felt in a long time either. “It sounds like a plan to me.”

Rhodey helped him gather his things to leave, locking eyes with the other man when he stopped at the doorway and turned back around.

“We’ve got a lot of things in common, y’know.”

“Heh, that we do, Sam.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Had some time to sit on this and feel it out, so I think I'd like to make this a long term fic. Expect the next chapter soon.


	2. Talk.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's Friday and Sam has a lot on his mind. Someone decides to pay him a visit.

The week went by slower than most others. Sam had a day job to focus on most of the time. Many would consider it a blessing to have a Friday off, but not Sam. Not having a client to work with or some boring, monotonous, menial task to focus on meant watching the seconds tick by on the clock from his living room couch. The drone of the sitcom on tv wasn’t enough to drown out the thought that tomorrow night was going to be his first date in years.

Sam had a lot of experience with keeping his cool on the outside. It was a different story when it came to how he really felt. While it was true that he did think he would enjoy going on a date with Rhodey, he wasn’t entirely sure how to react to the old nervousness that came with new romance. Would this just end up being a one time thing? Was he in the right place to start a new relationship? Would Rhodey even really like him in the long run? As many questions as he had to ask himself, his train of thought was interrupted by the buzz of his apartment doorbell.

“Just a moment!” he called out. He sat up and shuffled from the couch, flicking on a light as he approached the door. The rain had been on and off all week - ever since that night in the tower. As much as he wanted to avoid other people, he wasn’t rude enough to leave someone standing outside his door while it was pouring. Pulling the door open, he was greeted by a familiar face.

“Hey, sorry to show up unannounced.” Before him stood none other than Steve Rogers.  _ Great, _ Sam thought,  _ just what I need. _ The broad shoulders alone were enough to make Steve’s umbrella look miniscule in comparison to his body. He was almost pitiful huddled under it, so Sam decided against his better judgement to let the blonde in.

“Don’t worry about it. Come on, we can talk inside.”

Steve took a moment to close his umbrella and leave his shoes by the door. “Thanks Sam. I actually thought you were working today, so I stopped by the office. When I saw it was closed I figured I might as well come looking for you here, since I was in the area.”

“Really? What for?” Sam walked over and slumped back into the couch where he had been before, Steve following shortly after to sit next to him.

“Well,” he replied, “I thought that maybe we could grab lunch somewhere and talk.”

“Talk about what?” Sam raised a suspicious eyebrow to his friend.

“Y’know...”

“Actually, I don’t know. So I would appreciate if you’d spit it out, Captain America.”

“Okay, okay.” It was obvious Steve was feeling a bit uncomfortable about something, which was a sight to see in its own right. He scratched the back of his neck, avoiding eye contact with Sam. “I’ll have to apologize for this too, but I kind of overheard you and Rhodey on Tuesday.”

“Wow, uh... alright then.”

“I promise it wasn’t intentional, I was just coming down for something and you two... happened to be sitting at the table together. Smiling at each other. I saw Rhodey hand you something and I didn’t want to intrude, so I stepped back into the elevator.”

Sam could feel the heat rising in his cheeks, and found himself fighting off a blush that wouldn’t exactly be visible anyway. After a moment, he responded, “So what I’m getting is that you wanna hear about it.”

“Only if you’re comfortable with sharing,” Steve answered.

“Man, you say that like I haven’t talked to you about everything.” Sam hated to admit it, but in all his years, Steve was one of the few people who was close enough to see the emotions he tried so hard to hide from everyone else. The two had a sort of pact; if things ever got to be too much, they would talk to each other. Steve, through the times when Bucky was regarded as the enemy, had often confided in Sam; and while Sam had already gotten a lot of time to heal, he still needed someone to talk to about his PTSD once in a while. Someone outside of his workplace. In that respect, he was glad to have had Steve. “Alright,” Sam took a deep breath, “do you want the long story or the short one?”

“The short story is fine if it makes you feel better.”

“Well... we’re planning for dinner tomorrow night.”

That was all that Steve needed to hear to, ironically, light up like the fourth of July. “Congrats man, I hope it goes well!”

“Me too... I’ve been all nerves all day and I really don’t know what to do about it.”

“Samuel Wilson, you are one of the most charming people I know. It’ll be fine, just you watch.” Steve gave a playful elbow to his friend and flashed that oh so familiar smile.

“Maybe you’re right.” Sam lifted his head and sighed through his own meek grin. He took a moment, shifting his position and seemingly not knowing what to do with his own hands. His chest was tight and his own pulse echoed inside of his head. He spent so much time building understanding and tolerance and eventually numbness. God, he’d wished he would never have to acknowledge this old pain again. He felt himself slipping, from what and to what he wasn’t sure. His vision blurred, and he could hear something else. Muffled at first, but definitely there. Pulling together the broken pieces, he snapped back into reality from his subconscious.

“Sam! Sam.... Buddy, what’s wrong? Talk to me.” Steve had been calling for him. Fuck, how long had he been spacing out? He turned his head and saw the concern on Steve’s face. The movement made him aware of the tears rolling down his own; Steve had one of Sam’s hands in both of his own.

“God... I’m sorry. I didn’t realize-” Sam was cut off when his friend leaned forward to hug him. Although silent, he let himself keep crying.

“Shh, don’t apologize.” The two quietly embraced for some time before Sam spoke.

“I guess I didn’t realize how much I missed him.”

“No wonder you’re so worked up...” Steve knew the story. He was never sure if Sam had shared all the details with him, but he figured he had enough to come to his own conclusions. Besides, if Sam ever wanted to say anything more, he could when he felt comfortable.

Riley was gone and there was nothing Sam could do about it. Not now and not when it had happened, even right in front of his own eyes. He figured a time would eventually come when he could move on, but he had yet to feel like he was strong enough to do it. The years passed by and he never actively sought out another partner. Riley had been his other half, and he didn’t want to be some broken burden in someone else’s life. All that time brought him was a developing sense that he could hide it all. He still liked to flirt back when someone came along with romantic intentions. He talked about his experience until it didn’t appear to bother him anymore. He healed, or so he thought.

The pain came back as a shock, but having Steve there to comfort him was more than he could’ve asked for. Perhaps getting this out of his system now was what he needed. The two talked well into the night, until Steve absolutely had to get himself home to avoid falling asleep behind the wheel. Sam was reminded that night that maybe it wasn’t so bad to be best friends with someone so infernally optimistic. Steve wished him luck on his first date with Rhodey, and as he stepped out the door added that he was always a text away. Sam appreciated the gesture and bid him good night. Readying himself for bed and for the day ahead of him, Sam actually felt calm. It really was good to just talk.


End file.
